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“We said from the very earliest stages of this that we have a timeline that we have to meet,” said Andrea Farquhar, McMaster’s assistant vice-president of public and government relations. “When we don’t get a clear decision, it means it’s hard to know where we’re going. We need certainty in this. And we really need that by next week.”

The three-way deal between the school board, Mac and the city stalled this week after council again delayed a decision about leasing so-called “swing space” to facilitate the project.

City staff want to rent the space, first to sublet it to the board while their new headquarters is under construction, and eventually to make it the home of the city’s consolidated public health services.

The school board also put the breaks on the project after trustees voted Monday to spend the next month investigating whether to keep its headquarters downtown.

City manager Chris Murray said the city should be able to meet McMaster’s timeline.

“We have committed to reporting back to the March 6 general issues committee and addressing the matters we heard on Monday,” he said in an email. “My goal is to ensure councillors have answers to their questions.”

The school board is also committed to the deal, said chair Tim Simmons. He said the board has a conditional agreement with McMaster which has been satisfied in every way except for swing space.

“At the moment,” he said, “that’s out of our hands.”

Simmons added the board is treating the sale of its downtown land and the location of the board’s new headquarters as separate issues. Regardless of the outcome of the McMaster deal, the board is willing to work with the mayor and council to find a suitable site that meets its needs in the core.

The deal has become a complex knot of proposals, issues and concerns. Here is a breakdown of the key elements.

The players

The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board owns the land at the corner of Main and Bay that’s slated to house the new downtown health campus. The board plans to move its headquarters to a new site, Crestwood, on the Mountain.

McMaster University is looking to partner with the city on the downtown health campus to act as a training centre for new doctors as well as a research and teaching centre. They are putting up most of the $85 million for the deal ($20 million is coming from the city, $19 million from the province, $10 million from a private donor and the remainder from McMaster). But to secure their $19 million in funding from the province, the centre has to be up and running by July 1, 2014.

The City of Hamilton is planning to locate much of its public health service in the new health centre. It has committed $20 million up front and an additional $27 million over 30 years to the venture.

The issues

Swing space: The controversial “swing space” question was thrust into the spotlight Monday as councillors grappled with a staff recommendation to rent 52,000 square feet of office space in the Robert Thomson building. The plan is for the space to eventually be leased by the city to house their consolidated public health department, but first it would be sublet to the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board for two years while their new headquarters is under construction.

Councillors have several concerns about the swing space deal. First, they accused staff of not following the city’s procedures in pinpointing the Robert Thomson building. (Usually, the city puts out a call for proposals to potential landlords, then chooses the cheapest, best option. In this case, that didn’t happen.) Second, there’s confusion about how much rides on council approving the swing space deal. While city manager Murray says council isn’t obligated to sublet space to the school board, McMaster reps say that if they’re forced to start seeking swing space from scratch, it could put the entire deal in jeopardy.

Public health consolidation: Consolidating public health is the reason behind the city’s decision to rent space in the Robert Thomson building. Medical officer of health Dr. Elizabeth Richardson says that to be effective, the department needs to work collaboratively in the same space (rather than being spread out across the city, as they are now).

City staff say they have identified a need to consolidate public health since 2005. But councillors say they’re concerned that public health consolidation is an excuse to offer swing space to the school board rather than a pressing need on the city’s part.

The Right House: This King Street West building houses some of the city’s public health department. Property manager Irene Hubar said she wasn’t given the opportunity to bid on keeping the department as a tenant, nor was she officially informed that public health was about to move. Without the city’s tenancy, Hubar warns the future of the high-profile downtown building is in jeopardy.

Litigation with Yale Properties: Yale Properties, the company that runs the Robert Thomson building and Jackson Square, is suing the city over the Hamilton Farmers’ Market. Councillors pointed to city policy which permits it to decline to do business with anyone it’s facing in court and debated the lawsuit for two hours behind closed doors, Monday. (See CORRECTION below)

Heritage and downtown: While the city has been dealing with swing space, the school board has been grappling with significant opposition to their decision to move their headquarters from the heart of downtown to the Mountain. At their meeting Monday night, trustees voted to form a task force that will spend the next month investigating possible downtown locations.

But there are also signs the school board is losing faith in the deal. Trustee Ray Mulholland moved Monday to drop the sale with McMaster and sell the land at the corner of Bay and Main to another bidder. That motion was tabled at Monday’s school board meeting. However, the Ministry of Education has previously turned down a business case for this option, deeming it too risky.

What’s at stake?

Jobs and downtown renewal: The McMaster project is expected to draw more than 360 employees, 4,000 students and 54,000 patients downtown, boosting purchasing power in the core.

Easy access to health services: Locating in the core — easily accessible by public transit — will make it easier for Hamiltonians to reach doctors and public health services.

The deal: Previous iterations of a partnership between the city and McMaster have fallen through. Mac says they have a “Plan B” — a health centre at their Innovation Park — that they won’t hesitate to pursue if the deal goes sour.

CORRECTION:

In earlier versions of this story, the Spectator reported that the city's bylaws prohibit it from doing business with anyone suing the city. In fact, the city's policy says it can opt not to do business with a company it’s facing in court if the lawsuit has detrimentally affected that relationship. We regret any confusion.